In vitro study of anticancer drug doxorubicin in PLGA-based microparticles

Doxorubicin (DOX), also known as adriamycin, is an anthracycline drug commonly used in cancer chemotherapy. Unfortunately, its therapeutic potential has been restricted by its dose limited cardiotoxicity and the resistance developed by the tumor cells to the molecule after some time of treatment. One way to overcome these problems is to encapsulate the drug in poly (D, L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microparticles. This paper investigates the release characteristics of DOX from polymeric carriers fabricated using the spray-drying technique. The encapsulation efficiency, size and morphology of the various polymeric devices were also determined. In order to improve the release characteristics, Pluronic P105 (PLU) and Poly (L-Lactide) (PLLA) are individually used in combination with PLGA. Finally, a cytotoxicity test was performed using Glioma C6 cancer cells to investigate the cytotoxicity of DOX delivered from PLGA microparticles. It has been found that the cytotoxicity of DOX to Glioma C6 cancer cells is enhanced when DOX is delivered from PLGA polymeric carrier. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.